I am a white female of the upper middle class. I am a student, an intellectual, a friend, a daughter, and a girlfriend. I am a thinker and a problem-solver. I am a learner and a teacher, always seeking to learn something new or teach others about a topic of my interest. I am a… Continue reading Week One: A Single Story Hurts
Arif Dirlik uses one key question, posed at the beginning of his essay, to delved into his discussion of the Postcolonial. He begins by posing a question by Ella Shohat, “What exactly…does the ‘post-colonial’ begin?” (Dirlik 561). Dirlik’s quick answer? “When Third World intellectuals have arrived in First World academe” (Dirlik 561). Throughout the rest… Continue reading Dirlik, Rushdie, and the End
Gema Perez-Sanchez, in her essay “Transnational Conversations in Migration, Queer, and Transgender Studies: Multimedia Storyspaces”, delves into the conversation about the underrepresentation and misconception of homosexual or LGBTQ artists and individuals. She opens her essay by discussing the passing of the Ley 13/2005 and the Ley 3/2007, two laws that allowed citizens to rectify their gender… Continue reading Some Insight into Poco Queer Theory
Osama, a moving film directed by Siddiq Barmak, explores the subjugation of Afghan women by the Taliban. Although difficult to watch due to the overwhelming sadness I felt, I was interested to learn that Osama was the first feature length film created in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. This film is moving, melancholic, and eye-opening to… Continue reading Osama- A Film Not to Miss
The collection of essays and critiques at the back of the critical edition of Things Fall Apart is riveting. Available are a plethora of essays about Achebe, Things Fall Apart, the colonial novel Heart of Darkness and its author Joseph Conrad, and the Igbo-African background. In his essay “Chi in Igbo Cosmology,” Chinua Achebe establishes,… Continue reading Critical Thoughts
Chris Abani, in his TED Talk, states that if you want to learn about the African culture, read the literature. All of the literature–not just Things Fall Apart. Of course, I heavily agree with this, especially after taking a world literature class with Dr. Clemens where I was asked to think of everything that came to mind… Continue reading Catastrophic Colonization Kills
Being my second time indulging in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero, I must admit I love it even more. According to Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin, Woman at Point Zero could be classified as a testimonio, or “a novel or novella-length narrative, told in the first person by a narrator who is also the actual protagonist or witness… Continue reading Making Women Visible Again
“Sisterhood cannot be assumed on the basis of gender; it must be forged in concrete, historical and political practice and analysis.” –Chandra Talpade Mohanty Each reading that I engaged with this week touched upon the impacts of colonization and discourse on gender. Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Leila Ahmed, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Yaa Gyasi all provided… Continue reading Gender Construction
This week, I was introduced to a new subject: Orientalism. Based on the many complex readings of the definitions of important terms such as orientalism and essentialism in Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts, as well as Edward Said’s critical essay “Introduction to Orientalism,” I have come to understand the term Orientalism as a representation of the culture and people of… Continue reading Othering, Essentialism, and Orientalism: All the Same
At the end of my post last week, I left wondering if mimicry would end up engulfing Tambu, just as it had engulfed her brother Nhamo. After finishing Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel Nervous Conditions this past week, I quickly learned my answer through Dangarembga’s powerful words. Not only did I become witness to the powerful and dangerous… Continue reading Hybridity, Cousin of Mimicry
Mimicry, a term that has huge implications in post-colonial literary theory, is weaved throughout Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel Nervous Conditions. It can be seen throughout the many eloquently worded scenes and also it is represented by some of the main characters. One of the most obvious observances of mimicry in Nervous Conditions is in the character… Continue reading Desire and Mimicry: Robbers of Identity?
Postcolonial Lit Theory and Thoughts 